Building as a BodyCommissioned by Singapore Art Museum, as part of The Singapore Show 2012: Future ProofBy Grace Tan and Randy ChanExtended until Sunday 22 April 2012The Substation Façade
This is an InHouse event

Building As a Body is an art installation by Grace Tan and Randy Chan. The installation is a veil, composed of a matrix of dots and lines which envelope the entire façade of the building. The Substation is personified, and the veil articulates the opposing and yet inter-connecting themes of concealing and revealing.

Image courtesy of Jeremy San Tzer Ning / Stzern Studio

The installation is commissioned by the National Heritage Board’s Precinct Development Unit and the Singapore Art Museum.

The project was conceived out of various conversations between architect Randy Chan and an inter-disciplinary artist Grace Tan, to investigate the history, function, and presence of The Substation. The installation is a collaboration between the National Heritage Board’s Precinct Development Unit and the Singapore Art Museum, for the purpose of encouraging local artists to create public artworks and making art accessible to the public within the district. The National Heritage Board’s Precinct Development Unit was established to energise the streetscape of the Bras Basah and Bugis precinct, and to facilitate the transformation of the precinct into a vibrant arts and culture district.

About the Artists

Randy Chan is one of Singapore’s leading young architects, and was featured as one of the 20 under 40 notable emerging architects by the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2004. Randy’s firm was also selected to be featured in the acclaimed international magazine Monocle. Randy takes a multidisciplinary architectural approach to his projects and specialises in the convergence of Art and Architecture. His work has been published in numerous local architecture magazines and international publications.

Formally trained in fashion design, Grace Tan founded kwodrent in 2003 as an inter-disciplinary practice specialising in spatial and wearable fabric-works. Her recent developments include paper compositions and objects constructed from sheet metal inspired by the tactility of fabrics. Her works are highly experimental and they often blur the lines between fashion, fine art, and mathematics. She is currently based in Singapore and has exhibited extensively both locally and internationally. Grace is an Associate Artist of The Substation’s Associate Artist Research Programme.